Lucas Meets World
by Nicolette134
Summary: Let's give Lucas a little more character, no? Lucas-centric, Lucaya
1. Chapter 1

Lucas has a gift too- he reads people well. That's how he knew that Riley was the right choice for his first crush in the city, even though he'd initially been more attracted to Maya. He knew that Riley would show him around, catch him up in school, and introduce him to other _nice_ kids and he knew Maya would be trouble, plain and simple.

Lucas also knows that bullies are the way they are because they themselves are insecure. Not that he would necessarily say Maya was 'bullying' him, but even if he did feel that way he would know that she only wants to "break him", as she says, because she views him as a threat to her friendship with Riley, which she desperately clings to. Instead of reacting the way she wants him to and allowing her to get a rise out of him, he allows her to stomp around and make fun of him, awarding her antics with a tip of the hat and a rose.

Lucas notices other things about Maya too. The way she _says_ she isn't embarrassed or disappointed by her mother, but acts quite differently. That's why, after Mr. Matthew's history class, he skips French to go find her in the art room. There are no classes there in the afternoon, so he figured that's where she'd go, somewhere where she wouldn't have to hide. And that's where he finds her.

"Fancy meeting you here, ma'am," he says, gently knocking on the door to the room. He sees her shape bent up over her sketchpad; she's finishing her drawing from the other day, Farkle the Bird.

"There ain't room in this town for the both of us cowboy," she jokes halfheartedly, "get lost."

"What if I don't want to?" he asks, sitting as close to her as he dares to without actually sitting _next_ to her, because while he isn't exactly scared of the smaller girl, he isn't sure he necessarily _isn't _scared of her either.

"I'll make you," she said, glaring at him, a stare he's seen work on many, many other people, but one that didn't quite faze him, because he saw through it.

"No you won't," he said, inching closer, "you know how I know?"

"How?" she asked, her curiosity getting the best of her.

"Because," he pointed to her drawing, "you, Maya Hart, are a _nice_ girl."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, partner," she said, pulling farther from him and taking her sketch pad with her, "you can't just follow me in here and start accusing me of things."

"Yes I can," he laughed, "Wanna know why?"

"Why?" she mumbled, eyes rolling.

"Because you like me," he nudged her and, noticing her incredulous stare quickly added, "I mean, we're friends."

"Friends?" she repeated, "You and me? I don't know, Howdy Doody."

"Think about it," he said, realizing he wasn't going to get through to her right now, "I'll be seeing ya. And you know I'm always around, if you need to talk."

She mumbled a goodbye at his retreating back, but he stopped when he passed another one of her pieces, a diner scene that was only half finished.

"Riley's right you know," he said abruptly, turning back to her, "You should do the art night."

* * *

Of course the night of the art show he was there to support his friend, and he was pleased to note that she had even submitted the diner painting.

"It's really good Maya," he said, smiling warmly although she scowled.

"Yeah, well, whatever," came the response, "I wasn't going to, but Riley signed me up and all, so here I am."

"Good for you," he said, nodding in appreciation.

"She's not gonna come, you know," she said, "Just a heads up, in case you care. Riley's gonna be all disappointed, maybe that'll be your moment."

"Is Riley going to be the only one disappointed?" he asked, carefully.

"Unless you and Farkle are holding out hope too," she shrugged; ignoring his obvious suggestion that _she_ might be the one disappointed.

"I think we'll be okay," he said, "but it would be great if she showed, right? Plus, I want to apologize to her."

"For what?" the small blonde asked, confused. Nobody else confused her as much or as often as the much taller boy.

"Asking about her uniform after she ignored Farkle. I didn't know, I thought it was for a part or something," he explained. He'd been feeling bad about it since the woman had run out of the room.

"Hey, don't feel bad about that," Maya brushed it off, "She needs to quit pretending so much, you know? It's good to join the rest of us in the real world every once in a while."

"Still," he pushed. He was too much of a gentleman not to feel bad when he'd clearly hurt both Ms. Hart and Maya.

"Well she won't be here, so I'll just have to pass along the apology for you," Maya cut him off.

"Promise?" he said, smirking slightly, pinkie extended in a childish move she couldn't help but smile at.

"Hart's don't make promises," she said, "We're not good at keeping them."

"Fine," he said, "I'll just have to trust you."

He kept an eye on her the rest of the night. She didn't seem too upset, but he could still tell it stung a little that everyone, even Riley's parents, came, except her mother. He wished he'd been able to stop Farkle before he'd asked about the half woman in the painting, but there wasn't much to do after the fact except to hang around a little in case Maya needed to talk to someone. He knew the girl would probably rather eat toenails than admit to him that she was upset about her mom, but with Riley bailing like she had he knew she also didn't have many other options. He thought it rather odd that the brunette had run out of the school like she had. Anyone could guess where she was going, but he couldn't figure out why.

Riley couldn't possibly think that it was more important for her to deal with Ms. Hart than to be there for Maya right? Because that would be kind of ridiculous. The more he hung out with Riley and Maya, the more he realized how immature the first girl was, versus the second. Maya wasn't necessarily responsible, in the traditional sense of the word, but she was more street smart, and very protective of Riley. Maya was jaded, but he didn't exactly mind it. It was definitely more interesting than Riley's shy, innocent routine.


	2. Chapter 2

Lucas liked debate and had been, well, _debating_ whether or not he should join the team for a while now. He could use another extracurricular, and needed something to do to kill time before baseball season. He didn't want to admit it, but he was a baseball player. And a bit of a cowboy. He's a cowboy jock, like everyone guesses, but maybe, just maybe, the debate team will be a way for him to break out of that stereotype. He'd do something different, surprise people a little. Maybe it would even impress Riley and Maya. Well, everything impressed Riley, but it was quite a bit harder to get Maya's attention.

Everyone assumed he and Riley would become a couple, and sure, Riley was nice and she was pretty, but Maya was just so much _more._ More everything, you know? She was nice, even if she pretended she wasn't, she was funny, she was just more complex. He had to work to get her, and he had to admit he liked the challenge. The problem was he was worried he was being too obvious about his secret crush on the blonde girl.

He jumped at the opportunity to play a prank on her when Mr. Matthews approached him about it. He didn't mind when Ranger Roy replaced Ranger Rick, because at least it meant she was paying attention to him. So he'd tip his hat and hat and smile that smile and usually made girls melt, but just made her shiver with disgust and disdain. At the end of the day he'd passed by the detention room to say bye and toss her a pack of poptarts to snack on. It was pathetic, he knew, but he was determined to win the small girl over.

When Riley and Maya gave Smackle a makeover it only supported his theory that Maya was secretly a nice girl. They _both_ were always helping others, Riley just gets all the credit. And they'd done a really good job on Smackle too, she looked great. He couldn't help but notice Riley's slight frown when he'd said so, or how it had contrasted Maya's slight smile. Was she pleased that they'd done a good job, or please that he'd bother Riley? How much was he reading into things? How much was too much?

Lucas was into Maya, he couldn't help it. He knew that there was something inside her, that she was more than she let on to being, and he wanted to be the one to bring her out of her shell. Selfish though it was, he wanted to be the one to "safe" her, even though everyone was always saying that Riley was going to save her.

On the other hand, who said anyone needed to save her? She was doing just fine on her own. She was happy most of the time, she had friends and family, and she had her art. Smackle was proof that she can use her powers for good and not evil, and she was smart too. Smarter than she let on at least. He knew she knew the answers to the questions in class, even though she never answered them, they all knew it, even the teachers. The only reason she was doing so poorly was because she didn't apply herself, as cliched as that sounds.

Maya's the type of person that didn't want to put herself out there, in case she got hurt. Her life motto was you can't be disappointed if you're expectations are low enough. Her own mother couldn't hurt her, the only one who has enough of her to break her heart is Riley, and he knew that's why they could never date. As long as Riley had a crush on him, Maya would never _dream_ of going near him, for fear of losing her best friend. Same thing applied to Farkle, more or less. The girl would never let him near enough to her for them to have any sort of romantic relationship, because she knew if things went south she'd lose him as a friend.

Lucas knew he had to ride the fine line between being someone she could trust and someone she wouldn't mind losing. If they got too close too fast he'd scare her away, but if he kept his distance, or let her win their little "game", they could never have any relationship, friends or more. Not being in her life, and Riley's and Farkle's, 'cause they were his best friends in this crazy city, would be worse the worst thing that could happen.

* * *

He hoped that Smackle's arrival and new appearance would shake things up in the group. That Farkle would go for her and bring her into the group and then Maya would have someone new to get used to, and that Lucas would feel comfortable compared to her. But it didn't seem that it would last between the two of them, he wasn't necessarily ready for a relationship; he was a bit immature for his age, even though he was a total brainiac. He acted like he was so in love with Riley and Maya, but that was just a schoolboy crush, nothing would ever come of it. He and Riley would be perfect together though. They're both so child-like and innocent, not that he wasn't. He was nowhere near as jaded and world-weary as Maya, but he'd been through his share of stuff. He'd seen things back home and, well, he didn't like to dwell on the past, but he wasn't the same person he'd been back then, and while he wasn't on the same level as Maya in terms of messy family life and a rough back-story, he wasn't the naive little kid that his two other best friends were. Maybe that's why he felt so protective of them, he wanted to keep that part of them pure as long as possible, because once you lose that, you're done. Maya knew that, and so did he.


	3. Chapter 3

He wasn't mad when Farkle called Riley as his partner. He wasn't miffed, bothered, annoyed, upset, or agitated, which is confusing as hell because he's supposed to _like_ the girl for goodness sakes.

But instead he got Maya.

"So," he said, approaching the blonde girl on the subway after school, "Wanna get together and work on the project today?"  
"I think it's best if you take the reins on this one, Cowboy. I'm not big on school work, in case you haven't noticed," she laughed in his face, pun fully intended.  
"Maybe that works on some people," the tall boy allowed allowed, "But I'm not going to do your part of the assignment for you. We're partners, we have to be a team."  
"Fine, Ranger Rick," she said, huffily, "I'll work on the project with you. Anything to make you stop with that darn equality speech. You really like to complicate things; Riley and Farkle never make me do any work."  
"Well you're not getting away with that with me," he laughed, "Where do you wanna go to work on it, your house or mine?"  
"Yours," she answered curtly. Riley had mentioned once or twice that Maya lived in a bad neighborhood- to the point where the brunette was scared to spend the night there- and he wondered fleetingly if Maya was embarrassed for him to see where she lived. He doubted it though, Maya Hart does not embarrass easily.  
Plus, she'd soon she she had nothing to be embarrassed about, because his _apartment,_ he kept forgetting it wasn't a _house_, wasn't too hot either. The neighborhood was probably better than hers, sure, but not nearly as nice as Riley and Farkle's. Back when he'd lived in Texas they had a huge plot of land, but when his parents divorced and his mom headed for New York, taking him with her, they couldn't quite live to the standards they were used to. His dad had been the money maker in the family, but his mom was looking for jobs everyday, so that they wouldn't have to rely so much on the former "man of the house" to, you know, _pay_ for the house. Apartment. Whatever.  
"My place it is," he shrugged, "We can walk together from this stop."  
"Yeah, okay," she said, before putting on her county voice and starting a jig, "Golly, I can't believe I'm going to Ranger Rick's- are we gonna have a hoedown?"  
"Why yes ma'am," he said, hooking her arm in his, "Maybe we'll even get to tip a cow or two."  
"Well, yeehaw, partner!" laughed the little blonde, skipping along with the taller boy, all the way to his apartment.

She tried to mask her surprise at the neighborhood they had entered, and again at the site of his apartment. It wasn't much bigger than hers, although it was a lot cleaner and more homey looking. She had assumed his apartment would be like the Mathews', or Farkle's; spacious, decorated, in a safe neighborhood in a building with a doorman, that sort of thing.  
But it wasn't, and for some reason, that made the little blonde girl, well, not _happy,_ per-say, but, yeah, okay, she was happy. His place wasn't as bad as her's, but it wasn't as great as she'd been expecting either. And this is the sort of neighborhood that Riley would be scared to spend the night at, not that she _should_ be spending the night here any time soon, but she definitely wouldn't want to if she were. Either way, suddenly Maya didn't feel so bad about her own home. And that made her happy.  
Lucas' mom was home, and Maya could tell right away that she was a Topanga, and _not_ a Katy.  
"Hi Luke," his mother called from the kitchen as soon as they walked into the apartment.  
"Hi Mom," responded the tall boy, grabbing Maya's arm to pull her into the kitchen, out of the hallway she'd been hiding in, "This is Maya. We're working on a project together."  
"So this is the girl you've told me so much about," replied Mrs. Friar, wiping her hands on her apron and heading over to shake the girl's hand.  
"No, no," Maya shook her head, "You must be thinking of Riley."  
"Nope," Mrs. Friar corrected, "Definitely you, Maya. I'm sure you're thrilled to be working with, what was it again? _Hopalong?"_  
_"Mom,"_ moaned Lucas, blushing a little, "We don't need to bring that up, okay?"  
"Okay, Hun," she laughed, and Maya thought that she had a nice, happy laugh. She seemed like a nice, happy person altogether, and she could tell where Luca got his looks from. She was tall like him- taller than her own mother, and much taller than herself- with long, chestnut brown hair and a sun-kissed complexion that seemed out of place in the city. She was dress casually in jeans and a light cardigan, a pair of pristine Keds on her feet and an apron to boot. She looked like something out of a magazine.  
"So for the project we have to have a fake business. We're gonna sell muffins, do you have any recipes?" started Lucas, trying to change the direction of the conversation.  
"That sounds like a wonderful assignment!" Mrs. Friar said, "I do have some recipes for some organic muffins, I can go pick up the ingredients for you guys, I was going to run to the store anyway."  
"Are you sure?" Maya asked, "We wouldn't want to put you out or anything."  
Lucas looked incredulously at the girl next to him. She was being so, so polite. It was a bit strange, but he appreciated the effort she was putting in with his mother. He didn't need _either_ of them to embarrass him any further.  
"Oh, well aren't you a darling!" Mrs. Friar gushed, "It won't be a thing, y'all could pay me back when you're done."  
"That'd be great," Maya smiled graciously, "That's so nice of you."  
"That's what moms are for!" Mrs. Friar gushed, not noticing her son's and the blonde girl's faces and reactions to her unintentional comment.  
"If you say so," smiled the Hart girl, jaw clenched tightly.  
"We're gonna go study in the living room, okay?" Lucas told his mother, gently pushing Maya in that direction. He knew she wouldn't like him drawing attention to the mom issue, so he just avoided it.  
"Okay," she answered, "I'll be back in a bit, help yourself to anything in the kitchen, and Maya, it was just lovely to meet you, Sugar."  
"Nice to meet you too, Mrs. Friar," the blonde replied, "Thank you again for your help!"  
"No problem, Sweetie," the hostess answered with a grin, "Lucas, I like this one, keep her around."  
"Will do ma'am," the boy answered, blushing more and more as the visit went on.

"You're mom's really great," Maya said when the woman had left the apartment, "you're lucky."  
"She likes you," came the response.  
"She just doesn't know me yet," answered the girl with a wicked grin.  
"You think you're so bad-" he started, signing deeply, but she cut him off.  
"Let's do the math homework," she interrupted.  
"I already did it," he replied.  
"I know," she smirked, "I wanna copy your answers."  
And just like that the friendly, polite girl was gone replaced by the one he knows and- oh, he'd been about to say _loves,_ wasn't he. That's strange.  
Instead of thinking about it, he silently hands her the math sheet, and she copies it equally wordlessly, her handwriting graceful and sure as she glides across the loose leaf.

Leave it to _her_ to make copying homework look like a damn work of art.

And then before he'd even realized it, his mom was back and Nice-Maya was too, thanking his mother and helping her put away the groceries. It was crazy what being treated nicely could do to the girl.


	4. Chapter 4

He could tell she was pissed- nobody messed with her friends, but her. Farkle's bully didn't know what he had coming to him- it was one of his favorite things about her, how fiercely protective she was of the two more naive members of their little group- the only thing was, she had a tendency to be a little rash in her actions. Maya could be very vindictive and violent, when so inclined, so right now, she was as inclined as he's ever seen her.  
So, he did what seemed natural, in the moment, and prayed it wouldn't come back to bite him in the ass later- when she headed to the hallway, he grabbed her and returned her to the janitors closet.  
It wasn't a hard feat by any means, she was the tiniest of their friends, one of the smallest girls in the grade, and barely weighed more one of his little cousins, and he was used to lugging them around.  
She seems surprised when it happened, or embarrassed, he couldn't tell, but she was thankfully too much so to be mad.  
When they headed into the hallway moments later, though, he realized the moment hadn't escaped her altogether.  
"Don't do that again," she demanded, in a quite, almost menacing way he couldn't say he'd ever heard before, "I can handle myself."  
"I-I didn't mean anything by it," he said by way of apology. He'd always thought she was messing with him- could it be she genuinely disliked him? _Nobody_ disliked him!  
"I know you didn't," she said, more calmly, as though she realized how irrational she sounded, "I just don't like being- touched."  
She said it with a shudder, as thought it were a joke, but it made him wonder if maybe there was something more to it. Who gets that upset over being _touched?_

When he joined her and Riley in the brunette girl's bedroom later than day, he couldn't forget that moment, even over the teasing glances they shared while Riley grew flustered and blushed over him. He was made doubly confused when she said he'd "take care of" Farkle's bully. Like she trusted him too look out for their friend. Like she maybe _didn't_ need to take on the world on her own.  
He felt bad shooting her down like he did, but she had know he _wouldn't_ resort to violence. If there was one thing he'd learned in life it was that violence was _never_ the answer. He wished he'd had longer to talk to them- to her, but Mr. Matthews had pretty much ended the conversation when he'd chased him out the window. He knew Mr. Matthews only disliked him because he thought he was after his daughter, but he didn't think the fact that he was really into _Maya-_ there, he said it, he was obsessively interested in the beautiful little vixen that lived to terrorize him- would make their relationship any better. In fact, it probably only make things worse. Mr. Matthews was too professional to let his disliking effect his grading, but still...

Finding out Billy was the bully and subsequently going after him reminded him of all the things he didn't want to be. It reminded him of the way things had been back home. Perfect people leading perfect lives weren't all they were cracked up to be. That's why he'd been so surprised when Maya stopped him from doing exactly what she'd asked him too.  
He cornered the girl as she was leaving the locker room after gym class, "Why'd you stop me back there?"  
"You're welcome, Ranger Rick," she shot back.  
"Fine," he answered, "Thank you. Now why?"  
"That's not who you want to be," she shrugged, "You just needed a reminded."  
"I thought it was what you wanted," he repeated his earlier statement, in a low voice, not much above a whisper.  
"Ya well, you were right- as usual," she rolled her eyes, "You're better than that. And tell anyone I said _that_ and I will-"  
"Jack me up, I know," he interrupted, holding his hands up in surrender, "Even though apparently you don't like touching people."  
"I don't like being touched," she reminded him, before smiling wickedly, "But _I_ can do all the touching I want."

_Maya Hart will be the death of me_, he thought as he groaned, _I already know it._


	5. Chapter 5

"Madame Secretary," called Lucas, chasing Maya down the hall.  
"Hey, congrats," she smiled, too tired to bother with a witty remark.  
"You okay?" the cowboy asked.  
"Course," she answered with a shrug, "Why wouldn't be?"  
"I don't know," he responded, "You just seem a bit, well, off."  
"Not off at all," she assured him, "I'm as on as ever, don't you worry about me."  
"Okay," he drew out the syllable, hoping it emphasized his point- she was being super weird- but electing to drop it in favor of what he'd came after her to say after all. "Well I just wanted to thank you. I know it must've taken Riles a while to convince you, but I really appreciate the video. And, you know, not telling everyone about what I'd said."  
"You know," she started, "I don't like being told what to do."  
"Oh, trust me," he replied, "I know. That's why I saw so shocked Riley got you to go along with all this."  
"Listen, Hee-Haw, I didn't just 'go along with it' cause Riley told me to. I make my own choices, so if I happened to go all soft and ask your mom for the contact info on some of your cow-tipping', honky-tockin', rootin'-tooting' buddies, that's on me, okay. Riley can't make me behave, you know that."  
"I do know that," he said, approaching her slowly, as if she was an easily startled animal, "That's why I was so surprised. I didn't think it was possible you would've done this willingly. For Riley, sure, even for Farkle, maybe, but for not me."  
"Speaking of Riley, where is your princess?" the blonde girl, changed the subject, and there was a bite in her voice would barely register to the untrained ear, but for someone who's been studying her since the day they'd met, it was clear as bells.  
"She's returning the unicorn," he answered, plainly, without embellishment.  
"Unicorns aren't real," breathed Maya, as tears pricked her eyes.  
"What's wrong Maya," he asked, concern flooding him. What could've happened to make this strongwilled, resilient girl hurt like she was clearly hurting?  
"Billy isn't the only jealous one," she responded, slumping against a locker and sitting on the floor. It was dirty, Janitor Keiner hadn't made his rounds yet.  
"What do you mean?" he feigned confusion. _Surely she couldn't mean-._  
"I don't want to be your Secretary of State. No 12 year old girl wants to be Secretary of State," she said, by way of explanation.  
He breathed, of course _it'd been too good to be true,_ _the video and this? No way she wants_ me. "Okay, you don't have to be secretary. Just tell me what you want and you've got it."  
"It doesn't work like that," she smiled in spite of herself. Everything was so simple to her cowboy.  
"It does," he repeated, wiping a tear from her cheek. His hand was practically the size of her whole face, and her soft, smooth skin contrasted his own farm-boy, calloused thumb.  
"Girls like Riley," she started, lip jutted out in an involuntary pout, "They get to be princess."  
"You can be a princess," he whispered, her face was now inches from his and he could smell her cherry lipgloss. Cherries were her favorite, and his too.  
"No," she shook her head, "there can't be two princesses."  
"Why not?" he asked carefully.  
After a moment of hesitation, where Lucas thought for sure she'd laugh and say the whole thing was one big joke at his expense, she answered him, "There's only one prince."  
And with that, he closed the gap between them and kissed her.


	6. Chapter 6

This is _not_ what Lucas'd had in mind when he'd accepted Riley's invitation to "family game night". In retrospect, he should've known his nutty teacher well enough to assume he'd flip over their "interloping" or whatever he'd said they were doing.

Mr. Matthews, and then Mrs. Matthews breakdowns weren't the only thing that was making the country boy uncomfortable however. He had to admit it, it was weird seeing Maya in this situation.

For one thing, the girl was _very_ at home at the Mattews', that was plain to see. She joked around with the family, and they treated her like one of their own. Auggie looked up to her, Mr. Matthews adored her, Topanga was so proud of her. He was glad that she had that sort of relationship with _somebody,_ since it was no secret her mom wasn't around much. They definitely didn't have game night at the Hart house, that's for sure.

It was strange seeing her interact with Riley's uncle though. He should've been prepared- the older boy was all the blonde had talked about since she'd seen him at Riley's for Christmas, and again on the "family camping trip" they'd taken with her uncle Shawn. Still, he hadn't accepted her to act so, so silly and childish. She acted, well, she acted like Riley usually does around _him,_ and it looked just as ridiculous when the blonde did it as it does when it was the brunette. Besides that though, there was another problem.

He was jealous, he was man enough to admit. The boy was older, good looking, and apparently very cool. He was mature and he impressed Maya Hart, which was one thing Ol' Ranger Rick certainly didn't do much of, no matter how much all the _other_ girls at school liked him. He was jealous of Josh, and he didn't like seeing Maya, Maya, who was usually so cold towards him and all the other boys at school, who didn't realize half of them, himself included, were totally in love with her, throwing herself at the kid. It just didn't sit right.

And then they'd gone and played the long version of the game. I mean, yeah, sure, he was thrilled Riles was back on good terms with her parents, and he knows their lives have to match up with Mr. Matthews' life lessons from class, but he really, _really_ wanted to get out of there. He'd been shocked when he'd called his mama, because just yelling "MA!" seems disrespectful, to tell her he'd probably be spending the night, and she'd allowed it. He knows she just wants him to be happy here and make friends like the ones he had back in Texas, but goodness, what kind of a woman abandons her son at strangers houses, especially when his crush was throwing himself at the host's uncle? His mama'd let him down on that one, but he'd been too happy to see her to be mad about when he got home. Too tired, too.


	7. Chapter 7

**Still don't own Girl Meets World.**

**"**You want to see a rope trick?" Lucas said, twirling his lasso over his head. _Well, this could go one of two ways, _he thought to himself, _really well, or really poorly._

**"**Will you stop distracting me with that?" replied the indignant birthday girl, "It's not like I actually believed you're a real cowboy."

**"**Yeah," the boy smirked, "'cause if I was then I could do this."

With one swift motion he looped rope over Maya and quickly tied her up. He tried to act cool, but he was really stressing this whole scheme.

Maya was scared that introducing Shawn to her mother would drive him away, but Lucas couldn't imagine it was true. From what he'd heard from Riley and Maya Mr. Hunter seemed like a nice guy, one who would look out for Maya and could be a good role model for her. Lucas liked the man for those reasons alone.

After Riley and Farkle ran out of the room, Lucas followed them, mostly because he didn't want to suffer the wrath of Maya. _I'll give her a little time to cool off before I come back,_ he thought to himself, heading home to pick up his birthday present for her, _hopefully it'll distract her, maybe she'll forget she wants to kill me._

"How's the birthday girl?" Lucas asked, popping his head back into the room, surprised to find Maya there alone, and looking more upset than angry.

"No so great," she huffed, looking as if she was trying not to cry.

"Where's Riles?" he asked.

"I thought she was with you," Maya squinted at him, "She hasn't come back since you all ran away."

"She hasn't?" Lucas asked surprised, "You mean she left you all alone on your birthday?"

"You all did, Cowboy, or did you forget you left too?" Maya returned.

"Well, I just went home to get you your present," he explained, "I didn't really think Riley and Farkle would leave you alone, or I wouldn't have left."

"How am I supposed to believe that," she said, blowing up a bang that promptly fell back in front of her eyes, "You're the one who tied me up. Nice 'rope trick', by the way, I didn't get a chance to compliment your handy work."

"Whoa, you're really mad," he said, sitting down on the window seat, but not too close to her.

"Of course I am!" shrieked the Hart girl, "Some birthday this is turning out to be."

"You know Riley is only trying to help," Lucas reasoned, brushing the hair out of her eyes. It must've been driving her crazy, because she actually looked grateful for a second.

"Well of course _you'd _say that," she pouted, "You're not the one who's business she's always getting into. I love Riley like a sister, but sometimes she crosses the line. I didn't _ask_ for her help."

"You've got a point there," he agreed, "Why don't you tell her how you feel."

"I don't wanna upset her," she shrugged, "Or get into a fight about it. It is still my birthday, I want to spend it with my best friend- or at least I will, if she ever comes back."

"Well, if your best friend isn't here, maybe you'll settle for me?" he offered her the gift.

She could tell he wrapped it himself, because there was more tape than paper, but she didn't bother mentioning it, since it _was_ the thought that counts.

"Uh, how about you untie me, so I can open it," she suggested, smiling sweetly.

"Yeah right," he laughed, as her eyes clouded over, "I don't wanna see what you'll do if I did untie ya, plus Riley would wring my neck."

"Fine, open it for me then," she said, rolling her eyes, annoyed her trick hadn't worked.

"No, save it for later," he said, "When you're in a better mood."

"I'll be in a better mood now if you give me my present," she countered.

"Fine, I'll open it for you, but you've got to promise not to make fun," he said, suddenly embarrassed by his gift. _Would she get it? Would she like it? Maybe I should've just gotten her a cupcake from the bakery downstairs, _he internalized, although he hardly had time to debate the point any further before ripped open the paper- with a little struggle, there was too much tape- and presenting her with the gift.

"Oh, for lil' ol' me?" she asked laughing, as he placed a bright pink cowgirl hat on her head, "Aww, you shouldn't have."

"Hope you like it, little lady," he joked, tipping his own imaginary hat, "Brought it back from Texas last time I visited. I saw it and thought of you."

"Well, thank ya par'ner," she continued in an exaggerated accent, "I shall cherish it forever."

"I hope so," he answered, eyes glowing at her genuine appreciation of the gift. He hadn't known what to expect when he gave it to her, he was glad she liked it, or was at least pretending to for his sake, "It looks mighty fine on ya."

"Thanks," she said, dropping the accent, "seriously, thanks- and thanks for coming back."

"There's nobody I'd rather spend your birthday with," he replied, and the two sat quietly for a while; heads turned towards the floor, smiles wide, and cheeks blushing pink. They stayed that way until they heard the Matthews' getting back into the apartment, at which time Lucas wordlessly placed a shy kiss on the birthday girl's cheek and headed out the window.


	8. Chapter 8

**Sorry I haven't updated in forever; Lucas hadn't been really featured in a couple of the later episodes, and then there were giant breaks, so I didn't have much to work with. This, however, is Lucas' thoughts &amp; conversations with Maya that we don't see in _Girl Meets First Date_. Enjoy!**

"Girls have it so easy," Farkle lamented, and I couldn't help but agree, "Yeah, we have to do all the asking."  
"They just have to say no," he continued.  
"They could say yes," I pointed out to him.  
"They could do that?" he sounds shocked and I can't help but to laugh a little. For all his confidence with the ladies in our life, Farkle doesn't have much experience with girls.  
"You know what I was always afraid of?" he said suddenly.  
"What?" I asked. The little guy always seemed so confident.  
"You," he answered honestly.  
"How come?" I asked, surprised. I hadn't expected that at all.  
"I know we're good friends and all, but I always considered you a bit of a threat," he said, "Just like I know you consider me a bit of a threat."  
"Yeah, you keep me up at night," I responded, only half-jokingly. Farkle can be so strange sometimes.  
"But now I realize you're actually the solution to my Riley-Maya dilemma," he continue.  
"How do you figure?" I asked, legitimately confused.  
"I just never asked one of them out because I knew it'd break the heart of the other," Farkle responded. Even though he's being strange, you have to admit that's sweet, albeit in a sort of creepy way.  
"What if I ask one of them out?" I proposed.  
"Bye, bye I get the other!" he perked up.  
"And if I ask the other one out?" I asked, after a moment of hesitation, half hoping he'd ask me if I like Maya and half hoping it'd go over his head.  
"Hello, I get the first! How long do you want to do this?" he replied, so I pressed my luck.  
"Well there's only two of them," I shrugged.  
"So you're gonna ask one of them out?" he asked. He clearly meant Riley, guess it'd gone over his head after all.  
I paused, considering my options, "Maybe I will, someday."  
I figured Mr. Matthews would never let me date his daughter, and this way I wouldn't have to. A few years from now she'll be over her little crush on me, and, if all goes according to plan, I'll be over Maya too. Hopefully.

"Ranger Rick," she said. _Speak of the devil,_ I thought to myself.  
"Hey, Other One," I greeted her. _I'm a glutton for punishment, its like I want Farkle to figure it all out._  
"You wanna go out with me?" she asked, and I can't believe what I'm hearing.  
"What?" I asked, shocked. _Of course_ I _want to go out with her, but there's no way_ she _wants to go out with me too! And it would_ kill_ Riley._  
"You wanna take me to a movie, put our hands in the popcorn at the same time, and see what happens, or what?" she replied. Farkle jumped down to claim a very surprised looking Riley, and pulled her away eagerly.  
"What are you pullin' this time, Hart?" I asked, suspiciously.  
"God, you should've seen your face," she laughed, "Now I'll give you two options. Either you go out with me and let Farkle claim Riley, or you Cowboy up and ask the poor girl out already. She's going crazy, and it's driving me crazy."  
"So you don't want to go out with me," I confirmed.  
"Try not to sound so disappointed," she joked, "I just asked you because we all know Riley never will. Plus, someone else might try, namely Missy, and she won't think of it if it goes around that _I_ asked _you_ out. Namely because everyone'll be too confused to do anything else, but still."  
"Oh," I said, understanding her master plan, "Got it."  
"You're welcome," she smirked, skipping away after out two other friends, and leaving me to figure out what to do.  
There was really only one option to end this madness. March over to the Matthews', asked Mr. M for his permission to date Riley, and get shut down. Everyone wins this way. Riley doesn't want to date me, not really. She's like Farkle, she wouldn't know what to do with me if she had me. Farkle doesn't _really_ want me to take one of this girls so he can have the other, he wants both, for forever probably. And Maya will have- achieved her goal of getting me to ask out her best friend? Is that all she wants out of this? To have Riley happy? What about her own happiness? _Note to self, figure out what makes Maya happy_, I paused before adding, _Other than torturing me_.

"Really?" I asked, confused. I'd never expected to get Mr. Matthews' blessing. Now there was really only one option for me. I swallowed hard and went for it.  
"So," I said to Riley, but she interrupted me with a, "yes."  
"Riley," I continued only to be cut short by another, "yes."  
"Would you like to go out with me?" I asked, hesitantly.  
"Yay," she cheered. I couldn't help but smile; maybe I didn't have feelings for her like _that,_ but obviously I still care about her, she's one of my best friends and it makes me happy to make her happy. Even if it means losing Maya to _Farkle,_ of all people.  
I never thought I'd actually get permission to date Riley, so I figured asking her out would make everyone happy without me actually having to date her. Now I have to date her and go on a double date with Farkle and Maya. This was getting way messier than I'd planned on. And now _Joshua's_ here. Great.

Farkle was so nervous for his "date" with Maya, but I tried to explain to him that it was seriously no big deal. These were our best friends, we're always with them, why should tonight be any different? That's what I thought, up until I saw them that is. They looked so gorgeous, both of them, I had to stop and stare. Riley, I knew, would pull out all the stops, but I definitely didn't expect this from Maya and I couldn't help but wish she'd been my date and not Farkle's, even though he is my best buddy.  
I pushed that thought out quickly, I needed to live in the moment. This night could be one for the books- first dates with my best friends.  
_We_ should _remember this night forever_, I thought to myself, happy with the way things were going. Happy, that is, until I noticed Riley's Uncle Josh- the guy is everywhere.  
I nudged the brunette by my side, and her eyes sparked with concern for the little blonde in front of us.  
Maya approached Josh just as the older looking girl walked away. From the point of view of a non-biased third party member with no personal stake in the matter, this girl seemed much better suited for Josh, and I can tell the Matthews boy agrees. He doesn't want Maya, he wants her, but she probably wants her best friend's older brother or something, because things never work out like we want them too.  
"Lucas," Riley said, noticing how distracted I was. I couldn't help it, I was concerned for Maya, and I could tell she was too.  
"Go be with your best friend, Riley," I said, gently, trying not to seem too happy about the date-avoiding maneuver that'd just presented itself.  
"But what about our date?" she asked. Riley can be like that sometimes- I always think its unfair that Maya, who has got a tough exterior, but a heart of gold, would do anything for her best friend, whereas Riley gets all the credit as the nice one and totally has a selfish streak. It's like she forgets sometimes that friendship with Maya is a two-way street. She doesn't need help often, but when she does, Riley should spring to action, like we all know Maya would.  
"I had a good time," I replied.  
Riley spoke to Maya briefly before Maya sent her flying back into my lap, it's clear she wants to be left alone for a bit.  
Riley kissed me and it was short and innocent, like I'd expected it to be. More of a peck, really, Riley wasn't ready for much more than that, anyone could tell. Farkle's apparently not as good as reading signs, as he jumped at the opportunity to kiss a very uneager Maya, who offered him a hand and a compliment on his make-out skills. He's been talking about it ever since, but I'm barely listening; I can't get Maya's disappointed look out of my head.


End file.
